sudden acceleration

[BinWing]

I am still trying to process what happened an hour ago... but I wanted to share this incredible accident today around lunch time

While I was making a right turn from a local main road to a small road, not breaking or accelerating much as I always do, all of sudden, my MX accelerated on its own in a lot of power, like when I deliberately make an acceleration as I clearly felt the sensation on my seat. Before I could reacted to the situation, I already hit two parked cars.

I was not on autopilot
One witness behind me told the policeman "something just not right", the speed was constant ...., like you were on raceway"... He came back to make the point after he left and almost got home ..

I never used autopilot because I didn't like the driving feeling when I initially tried. I had this sudden acceleration at least one time this year (February?) on a state highway. I told my husband who was the passenger then. That only lasted seconds and no cars in front of me.

I am not sure this ever happened to anyone, but I am now so scared and the car is totally wrecked.....

 

[Super_Popular]

You should call your local SC and have the pull the car logs asap.

 

[Lloyd]

Sounds like you had cruise on. Call Tesla and tell them your story. They will research the cars logs for you.

 

[NikeWings]

Mayber you hit the AP stalk instead of the blinker causing a sudden acceleration?

 

[BinWing]

Mayber you hit the AP stalk instead of the blinker causing a sudden acceleration?

I thought you have to do it with the left hand....

 

[Yinn]

I thought you have to do it with the left hand....

Call Tesla and have them pull the logs.

2 Tesla's, 10,000+ miles and the only thing close to what you experienced is when I've activated TACC and it was attempting to get up to my set speed.

The stalk could have been hit by accident by a knee as well. Only the logs will know..

 

[skitown]

Sounds like you had cruise on. Call Tesla and tell them your story. They will research the cars logs for you.

This could be as it happened to me. Once when I let a friend drive my 2013 S, he used the cruise control stalk (which was "on" from the last time I'd driven the car) erroneously as the turn signal stalk when he turned right - and welp - the car accelerated really quickly on him - as pushing up on the CC stalk will do. I now make sure the cruise light is off whenever I'm not using it just to be careful.

 

[NikeWings]

I thought you have to do it with the left hand....

Yes, your blinker and AP/TACC stalk are both on the left side. Most people use their left hand to activate either/both.

 

[Az_Rael]

This could be as it happened to me. Once when I let a friend drive my 2013 S, he used the cruise control stalk (which was "on" from the last time I'd driven the car) erroneously as the turn signal stalk when he turned right - and welp - the car accelerated really quickly on him - as pushing up on the CC stalk will do. I now make sure the cruise light is off whenever I'm not using it just to be careful.

I have done this exact thing when making a right turn. Hit the cruise stalk up when it was on (mistaking it for the blinker) and got a surge of acceleration. Not fun, but luckily I didn't hit anything.

 

[Chopr147]

Unfortunately this can happen with this car. Has happened to me when I forgot cruise was on. Quick brake and it's off but can be alarming

 

[BinWing]

local Tesla sc said there is not much to reveal from the data logs (she said only door opened etc...). So I am waiting for an appointment to go through it with a technician.

Since it was not on cruise control before this moment, wouldn't it controlled to the speed limit? How did it accelerated so much above the speed limit?

 

[skitown]

local Tesla sc said there is not much to reveal from the data logs (she said only door opened etc...). So I am waiting for an appointment to go through it with a technician.

Since it was not on cruise control before this moment, wouldn't it controlled to the speed limit? How did it accelerated so much above the speed limit?

Don't quote me, as I'm not 100% sure, but my guess is that it's attempting to resume back up to the last speed in which you had cruise control at. Or perhaps it just accelerates as if it's the pedal accelerator. Anyone?

 

[Yinn]

Since it was not on cruise control before this moment, wouldn't it controlled to the speed limit? How did it accelerated so much above the speed limit?

With my AP1 X, I have had it come on and try to accelerate to a 75mph setting when I was travelling at 25-30mph. It definitely caught me by surprise and required me to react quickly to disengage it. It's happened on more than one occasion when I was expecting it to engage at my current speed, but it engages at the set speed instead.

I eventually figured out why. When you push the stalk up or down, it will engage at your current speed. If you pull back towards you, it will engage at the already set (or previously set) speed that's indicated on your dash. If it's significantly higher, it will accelerate quickly to get up to that speed.

 

[gabeincal]

I just opened a thread 10 minutes ago on a similar issue.. My S just accelerated on me today WHILE BRAKING. No stalks touched and of course brake should override cruise (which was not activated). Something's fishy?

 

[Yinn]

I just opened a thread 10 minutes ago on a similar issue.. My S just accelerated on me today WHILE BRAKING. No stalks touched and of course brake should override cruise (which was not activated). Something's fishy?

Definitely! The brakes should definitely override cruise and any acceleration. Hopefully you reported the bug?

 

[gabeincal]

Definitely! The brakes should definitely override cruise and any acceleration. Hopefully you reported the bug?

I did report to Palo Alto SC but didn't get a reference number or anything like that...

 

[SMAlset]

Same type of feeling gabeincal but you were traveling straight through the intersection I thought over some rough road and potholes and braking and she was turning and assume a turn signal had been deployed. Sorry BinWing about your car and the others. Sounds like you might have been shaken but not hurt at least. I do hope the service center can provide both with actions the car took to shed some light on it. Keep us updated.

I've read about how Tesla implements its TAAC and it's different from the cruise control I'm accustom to on my Toyota. There's a tab switch that you have to depress to Resume which I think I like better and feel it's more deliberate visually. Hubby drives with cruise control on my car all the time and uses TAAC on the Tesla so I'm always concerned about what setting on TAAC resume that he might have left his car in. Is there someway to know the set speed on a Tesla without activating it?

 

[NikeWings]

I just opened a thread 10 minutes ago on a similar issue.. My S just accelerated on me today WHILE BRAKING. No stalks touched and of course brake should override cruise (which was not activated). Something's fishy?

As noted by others and yourself in the other thread, it may have been the result of the potholes you hit and regen kicking in.

@BinWing you are asking some questions which imply you may not be as familiar with the Driver Assistance features as needed.
If you haven't taken the time to RTM, for your safety, please do so.

Page 79+ - ModelX Driver Assistance
https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/model_x_owners_manual_north_america_en.pdf

 

[skitown]

I don't have TACC on my car, but this section in the manual calls out what the cruise control level does when pushing it up or down, while cruise is on, but not engaged. If a person mistakenly uses it to try and signal for a right hand turn (pushes it up), it will likely be a firm enough upward motion to accelerate in a 5mph increment.

"To increase/decrease speed by 1 mph (1 km/h), move the lever up or down to the rst position and release. To increase/decrease speed to the closest 5 mph (5 km/h) increment, move the lever up/down to the second position and release. For example, if you are traveling at 57 mph and you move the lever up to the second position and release, the speed increases to 60 mph. You can also increase/decrease speed by holding the lever in the full up/down position and releasing when the desired speed displays below the cruise control icon."

[Edit: I feel like I need to actually reproduce this in my car with the cruise on but not engaged. Your mileage may vary.]

 

[JohnnyCakes]

It was you.